


Lest We Forget The Fallen

by Happylittleaddict



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Death Off Screen, Gift Fic, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mourning, Post Season 13, talk of death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-20 08:43:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19989313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Happylittleaddict/pseuds/Happylittleaddict
Summary: Tucker is having a rough time after the big fight.





	Lest We Forget The Fallen

**Author's Note:**

> this is a fic i wrote for my friend melo waaaay back almost a year ago and i never posted it till now.

Washington shifted nervously, there had been no word yet from Tucker or any of the other Reds and Blues since the last brief transmission before everything went to shit. They had won, at least the battle on the ground, but he had no idea what was happening in that ship. His thoughts raced, each scenario getting worse and worse the longer he thought on it. His fingers tapped against his leg as he continued to wait.

Finally after what had felt like hours he heard the alert to an incoming radio transmission, he pressed the button on the side of his helmet to allow for connection “Agent Washington” he said as greeting, don’t sound too concerned, there would be time for that later, for now just confirm who it was.

“Fucking hell that was bullshit” Tucker's voice came through the line clearly, he sounded exhausted but ok at the very least. He didn’t sound like he was injured or if he was it wasn’t serious.

Wash let out a relieved breath “yeah I bet it was, is everyone alright?” He asked him, ensure everyone survived, get a medical team ready if it was needed, focus on that for now. He would see them soon enough. They were ok they had succeeded in the objective. 

“Yeah we're fine mostly anyways, Simmons is gonna need some repairs to his cybernetics, they aren’t gonna die from anything though, mostly just bruises.” Tucker's voice sounded a little off now. That wasn’t his normal reporting injuries tone, something else had happened up there that he wasn’t talking about.

“Alright, get back soon, we’ll have a medical team on standby, god knows they need something positive right now. We’ll talk when you get back.” Washington said calmly not mentioning he had noticed anything off. As he said, they could talk when he got back.

“Yeah we’ll be back on the ground in about an hour.” Tucker responded before cutting off the transmission. He needed to focus on the now for the time being. He needed to make sure everyone else got back ok, fuck how was he going to explain this to Caboose, he didn’t really have to though, Church had left recordings, Caboose would understand. He hoped he would anyways. 

An hour later they were all back on the ground, this time without Grif crashing the vehicle. That was a miracle and a half considering every time Grif flew anything they were in for a crash landing. 

Washington was waiting for them relaxing slightly as he saw them, Tucker had been right they were all fine for the most part, typical injuries for any normal battle, though theirs had been anything but normal. So with that in mind they were all in pretty damn good shape surprisingly. What he was not expecting was the armor, it was the wrong color but it was distinct, he would recognize it anywhere. “Where did you get that?” He asked Tucker, the only reason he knew who was inside was because of the color. 

Tucker shifted a bit “Hargrove had it on the ship, some type of prototype according to Sheila and Epsilon…” his voice faltered a bit as he said that “it has hella upgrades too, pretty much everything that Freelancer had been messing around with is in this thing” he picked his tone back up to hide the momentary lapse. Not in front of everyone else. No one else needed to see that. He would give each person the messages and then hide away for awhile.

“Wait what? Seriously? How the hell did you manage to run all that?” Washington asked him in disbelief, there was no way all of that equipment could have been run effectively. Epsilon could work miracles sometimes but even he had his limits. That thought gave him pause “where’s Epsilon?” He asked him keeping his tone calm and neutral.

Tucker swallowed and looked away slightly “he’s gone.” He said quietly and moved past him to go get the armor off, it had worked, but it wasn’t his, it had awful memories attached to it as well. He didn’t want to talk right now, honestly he just wanted to be alone for awhile. 

Washington watched him walk away, they could talk later, for now he needed to help with the regrouping and continued effort of finding any other survivors of the battle.

A few hours later it had grown dark and they were finally able to rest determining they had found all of the survivors. Wash was tired but he had to meet up with Tucker and the others. He had said it was something important. He assumed it likely had to do with Epsilon, he guessed the others didn’t know about that yet. 

Wash scratched his chin as he joined the group, they were all in civvies right now, probably a nice change for them, for once getting to wear something comfortable rather than their armor. It was a bit strange seeing them all. 

Tucker cleared his throat getting everyone's attention “so uh. I’m not really that good at this shit, but he entrusted me to pass along the messages… Epsilon…. Church… is gone.” He said trying hard to keep his voice even as he pulled out the bag he had put each of the chips, he had even labeled each one so he knew exactly who they were supposed to go to. He shifted and handed each one to their designated person. He really didn’t feel like the right one to be doing this, he had never known how to deal with death very well, it was even worse right now because it happened inside of him, he had felt epsilon split off and drain himself just so they could survive. He could stop him, he hadn’t even been given a chance to try, and now his best friend was gone again. He fought back the tears that threatened to come forth again “he believed in us” he said and shrugged “and we didn’t disappoint. I… need to go…” he said quickly and turned to leave, he didn’t want anyone to see him break down again, he doubted they would want that for themselves either. 

Wash looked at the chip he held in his hand now and put it in his pocket moving to follow Tucker. He was probably going to be the only one allowed near him for the moment other than maybe Caboose, but that was iffy, they didn’t have the best track record but tucker had started being nicer to him at least. 

The others went off either alone or in a pair. Sarge, Donut and Carolina went to listen to theirs alone while Grif and Simmons went off together. Caboose was the only one left in the room head tilted and a slightly confused but sad expression on his face as he stared at the chip in his hand. 

It didn’t take long for Wash to catch up with Tucker, he wasn’t great with emotions but he knew enough to know Tucker probably wouldn’t want to be wholly alone right now, then again neither would Caboose, he would take care of that situation later though, right now he was focused on Tucker. Wash had a better idea of what Tucker had gone through, Epsilon may have been more gentle with Tucker since he seemed fine for the most part but he knew what it felt like to have an AI at least attempt to unravel in ones head. He knew a lot that Tucker likely didn’t realize, hopefully he could manage to at least provide him some amount comfort. He rest his hand on Tuckers shoulder not trying to make him turn around or anything like that, just letting him know he was there. If Tucker wanted to talk he would but he wouldn’t force him too.

Tucker shifted a bit caught between wanting to pull away and cling to Wash and not let go for awhile, he didn’t do either, simply just stood their shaking a bit as he silently cried, as hard as he had tried to fight it he couldn’t really control this. He had just gotten him back and he was gone again, but this time it was a lot more permanent. He didn’t want to accept that, he wanted him to still be there, that maybe he just glitched and was resting, but the messages said otherwise. 

Wash sighed a bit “I’m gonna miss him too.” He said to Tucker before wrapping his arms around him squeezing lightly, it just felt like the right thing to do. He knew it would fix anything, it would bring anyone back but it at least gave something grounding and concrete. 

Tucker gripped Wash’s arm and squeezed his eyes shut trying to calm himself “i think most people will. I included the personal messages and the one he made that addressed the entire group…. they…. are heartfelt for an asshole AI” Tucker said with a half sobbed laugh. Church had always been an asshole who acted like he didn’t care, but he did, no matter how hard he had tried to deny it. 

“Yeah I’m sure they are.” He replied as he ran his thumb over Tuckers shoulder in a soothing manner. He wondered what his message contained, what would Epsilon say to him after all this time? He didn’t know and it made him half axious thinking about it. He would worry about it later though. “It didn’t cause any problems with you implants did it?” He asked tentatively, he just wanted to be sure but it was likely a touchy question to ask. 

Tucker shook his head “not that i know of, they got checked while Grey was looking everyone over for any possible injuries we may not have noticed.” He shifted and felt the AI port for a moment before taking his hand away and holding onto Wash again. As much as he wanted to be alone, being hugged felt nice, he didn’t really remember the last time he hugged someone out of armor. 

Wash nodded “alright good just wanted to make sure, i know sometimes that can happen” he let his fingers lightly brush over his own implants for just a few seconds before pulling his hand away from it. He pressed his lips against Tuckers shoulder and sighed a little.

“Yeah no I’m fine… it wasn’t… Violent or anything. Just… one moment he was there and the next he was all split up then he was just gone… nothing was left.” Tucker said quietly leaning against Wash and closing his eyes. He felt tired, so much had happened over that last few months, he needed to rest and just have a break. There was only so much a person could go through before they were just done.

Wash was quiet for a minute just holding Tucker close, he pulled away and looked at him “Come on let's go sleep, we need it, the others can handle themselves for the time being.” He said and squeezed his arm lightly before heading to Tuckers room.

He sighed a bit and followed him “yeah sleep sounds good.” Hoping he actually could get to sleep after all of this. It would likely be difficult for awhile.


End file.
